Out of the fire

Carolyn Thompson, Postmedia News11.18.2011

L to R: Alexandra Rodrigues on Regal Jasper, Dorothy Laflamme with Lacy, Nicole Rodrigues on Northern Mischief. Dorothy Laflamme's home was destroyed in a fire earlier this year, but she was able to salvage or replace nearly all her belongings. She even crawled under the garage door to find riding gear for her daughters.

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When Leesa Sereda's home was damaged in a massive fire in March, she had no idea she would still be trying to clean and sort her possessions nearly six months later.

Her apartment is still filled with 27 Rubbermaid bins loaded with soot-covered items, and she has done 37 loads of laundry to clean clothing coated in layers of dust.

Sereda didn't have tenants' insurance, which meant she was left to deal not only with trying to sift through her apartment for salvageable items, she was also the one responsible for paying for any restoration necessary.

"To have absolutely everything coated in a toxic material, you knew it wasn't just a matter of taking a feather duster and wiping it off," she says. "That was just overwhelming. And scary."

The 51-year-old was living in an apartment next to the Home Hardware on Beechwood Avenue when the fire began in the store's basement and ripped through about 10 businesses in the historic block. The fire didn't reach her unit, but the smoke was enough to layer thick soot over everything in her home. Her two cats were rescued from the apartment by firefighters, but she was unable to grab many of her precious possessions.

For victims of a fire, facing the daunting task of sifting through possessions, searching for items to keep and removing unsalvageable pieces, can be very emotional. That's why Pierre Lacasse, a service manager with restoration company Rainbow International (rainbowintl.com), says it's so important to be well prepared.

"It's not trauma, for us, cleaning. It's a job. But it is a shock," he says. "For the tenants especially, because they can't believe how fast it goes."

In cases where the building has not been destroyed in the fire, crews move in to clean surfaces to make the building habitable again once all the possessions have been cleared out. People don't realize how much soot can penetrate, Lacasse says.

In one two-storey home they visited that had been the site of just a small dryer fire in the basement, a layer of soot covered the house as high as the attic, and seeped inside bathroom cupboards on the second floor.

As soon as the call goes in to 911, the process starts to unfold. Firefighters arrive on scene and do what they can to stop and contain the fire. If the cause is suspicious, they'll call in the fire marshal to complete an investigation, sealing off the scene until it's complete.

Typically, an insurance company is called and they select a restoration company to help itemize everything in the home. If there is no insurance, homeowners or tenants have to find a company themselves.

Restoration companies determine what will need to be replaced and how much it will cost to repair or restore the rest. The homeowner is involved in this process, going through items with them and choosing what they want to try to salvage, and what items can be tossed.

Last year, Ottawa firefighters battled almost 380 fires, with total damages around $37 million. More than 100 of those fires had more than $50,000 in damage. This year there have already been almost 200 fires in Ottawa, with nearly half of those causing more than $50,000 damage.

Sereda lost nearly two-thirds of her possessions in the Beechwood fire, but she says having a list of top 10 special pieces helped her find what was most important and take it home right away. She and her neighbours were given a few hours each day for about a week to pick through what remained of their homes. The rest of the time restoration companies blocked off areas for cleaning.

Since Sereda didn't have insurance, she decided to try to clean many of her possessions herself, with advice from her restoration company, Restore-All (restoreall.com). They helped her identify items she could clean herself, and those best left to the experts.

Since cleaning all her clothing would cost about $8,000 alone, she chose to tackle that herself. Other items had to be left to the professionals, racking up bills of thousands of dollars.

Only three of the 14 units in her apartment building were insured, Sereda says. "We learned a lesson; a very expensive lesson for most of us."

For Dorothy Laflamme, whose home was destroyed in a July fire on Creekwood Crescent in Crystal Beach, the experience has been easier, though still an emotional one. "It's just life-altering, but in a positive way," Laflamme says. When Laflamme first arrived at her burning house, she thought her eldest daughter was still inside. After 20 minutes of fear like that, she says, no loss of possessions comes even close to being comparable. "When I found out that she was OK, nothing else mattered."

Laflamme had been well-prepared for a fire, despite never expecting to be faced with the reality. She had a family escape plan and ladders under each bed. She kept important and precious items in a safe in her basement, and was diligent about keeping it updated. She was also familiar with her insurance plan, which she says served her well in the chaotic days following the fire.

Though Laflamme's home was nearly gutted in the fire, leaving the second floor lying within the first, she managed to keep about 90 per cent of her special possessions. Laflamme says she has had copies of school yearbooks, family photos and old newspaper articles sent to her. There were a few photos of her parents that were lost, but since she had slides kept in the safe, most of those could be replaced.

The family has moved to a home near the girls' school, and Laflamme says that although it took a while to accept the situation, she's now just happy to be moving on.

Tips to protect your home from fire

Here are some tips to protect your home from fire and smoke damage, as well as what you should and shouldn't do after a fire:

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